The 2010 census will be arriving soon in mailboxes across the Tampa Bay area.
The Census Bureau is sending out 120 million 10-question forms to residential addresses across the country. Those forms should start landing in mailboxes next week, Census official say.
This week, those same people will get a letter announcing the census form's impending arrival.
Census officials hope those letters, printed in Spanish and several other languages, will encourage people to participate in this year's national headcount.
"It's an important reminder about the impact the census has on our communities, that
the census is important and that everyone needs to participate," Census Bureau Director Robert Groves said in a written statement this week.
Census officials say this year's form should take about 10 minutes to complete. It's one of the shortest census forms in decades.
The 2000 census included a long version that went out to one-sixth of all recipients and gathered detailed information, ranging from education levels to indoor plumbing. Much of that information is now gathered through the annual American Community Survey.
The census forms will come with a prepaid envelop that people can use to mail them back to Washington, D.C., Groves said.
By encouraging people to mail the census form back, census officials hope to save money on sending workers door-to-door this spring to follow up. Those workers will visit homes that didn't return their forms.
The Constitution requires a census of everyone living in the United States every 10 years. Census results underpin everything from political representation to the distribution of federal, state and county funds. Federal law actually requires people to answer the questions and give truthful answers, or else risk being fined as much as $5,000.
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